In the processing of meat into sausage links, ground meat, fat, and spices are mixed and extruded into either collagen or natural casing. The sausage is then divided into individual sausage links by twisting the casing at selected intervals. This process creates a twist in the casing between each sausage link.
In one known process, the string of sausage links is then placed on a rolling rack for transport for further processing such as cooking or smoking. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an example of such a rack is a mobile rack 10 comprising a series of bars 11 having a triangular surface. The links 12 are preferably wound or looped around the bars in a helical fashion. In the illustrated embodiment, each loop includes four links so that within each loop two links 12 hang on either side of the bar 11.
Sausage links processed using the above-described rack typically have two types of ends. Referring to FIG. 2, one end may be described as a cobra head end 13. This type of end results when the normally rounded end of the link has been flattened on the triangular surface of the bar. Stretching of the twist 14 also occurs with this type of end, creating twists of varying lengths. According to the process described above, a pair of cobra head ends 13 is formed once every four links. The other type of end is called a round end 15.
After smoking, cooking, cool-down or other processing, the links are transported on the rolling rack 10 to a separating area. Here, the links 12 are separated from one another by cutting the twist 14 (e.g., with a knife or scissors). When the twist 14 is cut, a small portion of the twist typically stays attached to one or both ends of the corresponding links 12. With short twists, this is normally not a problem. However, with twists that have been stretched (e.g., due to the weight of the suspended links), the twist can be significant in length. Such long twists can have a tough texture, particularly if they are collagen.
In light of this problem, it is known to remove a substantial portion of the twist by trimming on both ends of the twist, thereby resulting in an improved product. This process was previously performed manually by workers using scissors. This process can be a problem in the industry due to low efficiency and also due to the repetitive nature of the process.